GENERAL DEGREE REQUIREMENTS AND ACADEMIC POLICIES

The requirements specified in this catalog are intended for all students who begin their college careers during or after the fall of 2010. Students who have begun their careers prior to fall 2010 may choose to complete the requirements outlined in this catalog, but if they do so they must complete all of the requirements listed here. Students may not choose some requirements from this catalog and some from previous catalogs.

Student Responsibilities

Each student is responsible for selecting courses that will allow him or her to make reasonable progress toward a degree in the College. An appointment with an advisor in the A.H. Bean Undergraduate Student Services Center to develop a long-range academic plan is strongly encouraged.

Each student is responsible for University and College policies appearing in official documents, including those on the University and College Web sites, that govern academic programs, curricula, courses, and completion of degrees.

Each student is expected to pursue successful completion of all courses for which he or she enrolls.

Each student is expected to maintain a current and accurate mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number with the A.H. Bean Undergraduate Student Services Center and respond promptly to all communications from the University and the College.

Each student is expected to be familiar with the current academic calendar.

Maximum Class Hour Load Per Semester

Entering freshman students may enroll for a maximum of 16 semester hours during the first semester in residence. Continuing students may register for a maximum of 16 semester hours during the fall and spring semesters and a maximum of 14 semester hours during the summer session, without special permission.

Students must register for a minimum of 12 semester hours in order to be classified as full-time students. Students who wish to take less than a full-time load must secure permission from the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs.

Auditing Courses

Students may register for courses as auditors with the approval of the departments offering the courses. The deadline for registering as a course auditor coincides with the deadline for adding courses at the beginning of each semester. Consult the College Registrar for more information.

The requirements that auditors are expected to meet in an audited course are left to the discretion of the instructor. Audited courses do not count toward degree requirements.

Online Courses

C&BA students may enroll in online courses through the College of Continuing Studies. An online course with the same course number as a regularly scheduled on-campus course fulfills the same degree requirements as an on-campus course. Further information about online courses is available through the College of Continuing Studies.

Pass/Fail Option

The University and the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration offer students the opportunity to pursue courses on a pass/fail basis as a means of encouraging students to broaden their interests and learning experiences beyond their business specializations. To register for a course on a pass/fail basis, a student must obtain approval in the A.H. Bean Undergraduate Student Services Center, 10 Bidgood Hall. The deadline for registering for a course on a pass/fail basis coincides with the deadline for adding courses at the beginning of each semester.

The College registrar is responsible for determining that each student requesting the pass/fail option meets the following criteria:

The student must have attained sophomore standing (a minimum of 30 hours earned).*

If the student is a transfer student, he or she must have earned 15 hours or more in residence, maintaining a grade point average of 2.0 or higher in residence.*

The student must have an overall grade point average of 2.0 or higher.

The course the student wishes to take on a pass/fail basis must be a non-commerce elective. Business courses (required or elective) may not be taken on a pass/fail basis except in the case of courses that are offered only as pass/fail courses.

Courses that will be used to satisfy University of Alabama Core Curriculum requirements may not be taken on a pass/fail basis.

The student may take a maximum of four courses, or 12 hours, of course work on a pass/fail basis while earning an undergraduate degree.

The student may take no more than one course per semester on a pass/fail basis.

Business students will not be allowed to register for courses on a pass/fail basis after the deadline for adding courses, and once the option is selected it may not be rescinded.

*Several specialized courses offered only on a pass/fail basis may be taken in the freshman year or the first semester in residence (for transfer students). Consult the C&BA Student Services Office for further information.

Policy on Repeating Courses

A course may be repeated, but the record of both the original and the repeat enrollment will appear on the student’s transcript. Both attempts will be counted as hours attempted, but only the second attempt will count as hours earned for the degree. If the course is passed on the first attempt, but failed on the second attempt, the student will not earn credit for the course toward a degree.

The MIS Program and the Culverhouse School of Accountancy have their own rules for repeating courses required in their majors. Consult the MIS Program and the Culverhouse School of Accountancy for more information.

Policy on Mathematics Courses

The analysis of many business problems calls for mathematical reasoning. Students should take the highest-level mathematics sequence for which they are eligible. The MATH 112 and MATH 121 sequence provides the minimum skills for pursuing an undergraduate business degree but is not a substitute for MATH 125. Any sequence that includes MATH 125 is preferable to the MATH 112 and MATH 121 sequence. Those students who are interested in graduate study or in working in technical positions should choose a course of study that would lead to at least partial completion of the standard calculus sequence, MATH 125, MATH 126, and MATH 227.

Below are specific rules that govern mathematics requirements for commerce and business administration students:

Once a student has earned credit for MATH 112 and/or MATH 121 (or 1. MATH 125), the student may not earn credit, including CLEP, for lower-numbered mathematics courses.

C&BA will not grant degree credit for any mathematics course numbered 2. lower than MATH 100 at The University of Alabama.

C&BA will not grant degree credit for any mathematics course offered for 3. transfer credit from a junior college which is titled—or has the substance of—“business mathematics” or “mathematics for finance.”

Selecting a Major

Eligible students should complete major declaration forms in the A.H. Bean Undergraduate Student Services Center, 10 Bidgood Hall. Students who intend to major in accounting or management information systems must apply to the respective departments.

A student who is admitted to the upper division but is not yet ready to declare a major must change from lower-division status (see “Admission to the Upper Division”) to General Business status until he or she is ready to select a major program. Students who need information to enable them to select majors appropriate to their academic and career interests should consult with faculty advisors in the respective departments or with the staff of the A.H. Bean Undergraduate Student Services Center, 10 Bidgood Hall.

Minors in Business for Non-Business Majors

Students enrolled in divisions of the University other than the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration may apply for admission to one of the business minors supported by the College, subject to the provisions stated below. Approval of the student’s dean is required.

Except for the general business minor, which requires a minimum grade point average of 2.0, non-business majors admitted to a business minor must have grade point averages of 2.5 or higher for all college-level coursework attempted and for all University of Alabama coursework attempted. A student whose grade point average falls below these standards may petition the associate dean for undergraduate programs of the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration for admission to the business minor if the student’s grade point average for the last 30 hours attempted is 2.5 or higher. A student admitted to a business minor will be permitted to enroll in all courses required for that specific minor even if the student’s grade point average subsequently falls below 2.5 provided all other enrollment requirements are met.

Non-business students must complete the course-specific prerequisites for each minor program course and must have earned credit for a minimum of 60 semester hours at the time they enroll in the 300- or 400-level courses. Non-business majors may earn degree credit for no more than 30 semester hours of C&BA courses (excluding EC 110, EC 111, and ST 260) without approval of the associate dean for undergraduate programs. Failure to comply with these policies will result in administrative disenrollment from C&BA courses.

Graduation Requirements

In order to qualify for a bachelor’s degree in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, a student must earn a minimum of 120 semester hours of credit as specified in this catalog. A minimum of 30 hours must be earned in residence at The University of Alabama and in the College.

Total hours of study. A minimum of 120 semester hours of credit as specified in this catalog is required for the degree of bachelor of science in commerce and business administration.

Academic standards. The following minimum standards of academic achievement must be met by each student who expects to earn a bachelor’s degree from the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration. (These standards are subject to change.)

Each student must earn a grade point average of at least 2.0 (“C”) for all coursework attempted at The University of Alabama.

Each student must earn a grade point average of at least 2.0 (“C”) for all college-level coursework attempted.

Each student must earn a grade point average of at least 2.0 (“C”) for all coursework attempted in the major program.

Each student must earn a grade of “C-” or better in required general education courses.

Each student must earn a grade of “C-” or better in each of the business administration functional field courses.

It is the student’s responsibility to make sure that each of the above requirements has been met. Students should utilize DegreeWorks, the online academic planning system, to ensure that they are making adequate progress toward the degree. The C&BA registrar is available to students who wish to verify their records.

Application for degree. Each candidate for graduation from C&BA must submit an application for degree via MyBama, the online student portal. Students should submit their degree applications online once they have earned 90 hours. In all cases, an application for degree must be filed online via MyBama no later than the time at which the degree candidate registers for his or her final semester in residence. Students who apply for their degrees after registration for the final semester will not receive their diplomas until the following term.

A student who wishes to complete degree requirements at any institution other than The University of Alabama, or by any means other than residency in the College, may do so only on the advice of the C&BA registrar and with the approval of the department head of the major field in which the student expects to earn a degree. Such students must meet all the above requirements.

All transient work should be transferred to the University before a student’s final semester on campus. Students wishing to take courses on another campus during their final semester must seek approval before registering for transient courses.